Pepsico fined Rs 80,000 for underweight Lehar packets

Sanjeev Singh Bariana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 21

The Punjab Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has ordered multi-national Pepsico Holdings to pay an amount of Rs 80,000 along with 12 per cent interest, from the date of complaint till actual payment, to NRI Daljeet Kaur for selling underweight ‘Lehar Karare Peanuts’.

The order of the commission president, Justice Paramjeet Singh Dhaliwal (retd) read that “the complainant is not interested in the compensation”. She wanted to make a statement on the open loot of consumers by the multi-national company.

Daljeet Kaur had purchased five packets of ‘Lehar Karare Peanuts’ for Rs 10 each from a provision store in Patiala on October 20, 2015. The packet read “25 per cent extra.” Suspecting the packet to be underweight, she got it weighed. The scale showed the reading at less than 40 grams while the packet read ‘25 per cent extra’ and should have weighed 50 grams.

The District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum, Patiala, in an order dated December 21, 2016, had accepted her complaint and ordered a compensation of Rs 10,000.

To make a bigger statement, Daljeet Kaur approached the commission seeking a compensation of Rs 80,000.

A representative of the State Metrology Department carried out a weighing exercise of the peanut packet in the presence of the commission president. The packet weighed only 38.71 gm against 50 grams as claimed.

Allowing the enhanced amount to the complainant, the commission also directed the Metrology Department to make sure that random surveys of quality and weight of the pre-packed articles be carried out regularly.